Jaron Lanier has written a remarkable book that stands as a landmark in the emerging debate about the social consequences of Internet technology. Who Owns the Future? (Simon & Schuster) is both a radical critique of the trend toward concentration of economic power in a small number of Internet ventures and a passionate call for the development of a humanistic digital society. The word humanistic is seldom heard from the movers and shakers of Silicon Valley or their financial backers, but it is at the heart of Lanier’s argument. Instead of talking about bandwidth, page hits, advertising impressions, and market share as the...

How would you like to die on Mars? For a surprising number of people this is not an unappealing prospect.  So strong is the desire for interplanetary adventure that a private company, Mars One, is now planning a venture that will offer one-way trips to the Red Planet. Selected volunteers would commit to living the remainder of their lives on Mars. As of April, 2013, the company had received over 10,000 inquires from wannabe astronauts whose dream of visiting Mars is powerful enough to overcome  the quite serious concerns of survival. Unfortunately, the outcome of this adventure is likely to...